Evening prayers for children: read strong text

Very strong evening prayers for children read the text of the complete collection, which everyone should know, will always help, these basic prayers are the most powerful prayers every Orthodox Christian should know by heart. Amen.

Here is an evening prayer rule that is suitable for children.

Evening prayer rule: Beginning prayer to the Holy Spirit Trisagion To the Most Holy Trinity The Lord's Prayer 5th Prayer 11th, to the Holy Guardian Angel of the Venerable Cross (short) To the Most Holy Theotokos Before going to bed

About children's prayer

Priest Igor Stepanchenko, rector of the Boriso-Gleb Church in the city of Chasov-Yar in Donbass, a father of four children, a teacher by training, who worked in a secondary school for five years, shares his thoughts on how to teach the little ones to pray.

Learning to pray begins in the womb

Father Igor, at what age should children begin to teach prayer? And where, exactly, should we start?

− Conceiving a child is already the birth of a new life in the mother’s womb. A new life begins only with the blessing and will of God. This means that if an Orthodox mother prays at home, goes to the temple of God, and tries, to the best of her ability, to fast for the glory of God - then this little child is already beginning to learn prayer and fasting. When the mother prepares for communion and confesses, to some extent the baby also participates in all this. He is present with her at the service: he hears chants, bells, and the gospel word. To some extent, he also trains in prayer.

After birth, he becomes a subject, an independent part of the Church, and when his mother prays next to him, prays while feeding him, the child also perceives everything and learns prayer with his mother’s milk in the literal sense of the word. And therefore, when a mother tunes in to prayer, the child also participates in it, communicating with the Lord. After all, in prayer we talk with God. He is not somewhere on the sidelines - He is in us, since He Himself says: “Your body is the temple of God, which contains the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

After the birth and baptism of a child, Orthodox parents and godparents bring him to the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, and all this is a complex of study, spiritual growth in prayer and fasting. After all, fasting also extends to infants, when, as they grow older, they are left without food for more and more time before communion. At first it’s an hour so that the baby doesn’t spit up, and then the time increases. As the child grows, the asceticism of his fast worsens, and by the age of seven the little person is ready to receive communion on an empty stomach - this is not difficult for him.

From basics to more complex

When the child has grown up, what prayer should he be taught - the canonical texts or, as they say, “from himself,” that is, in his own words?

- If everything happens as we said, and the child becomes an accomplice in the spiritual life of the mother, then he hears the canonical prayer constantly. Let the short Jesus Prayer, “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice!” or the rule of Seraphim of Sarov. Even if a child hears prayers briefly, he will remember them.

If we teach prayer from the heart, “from ourselves,” then in any case we will come to a time when the child will have to be taught canonical prayer. In my opinion, he needs to be taught canonical prayer, and then, when he has mastered the basics, he can be taught how to say a short prayer from the heart. It is better to go from the foundation - canonical prayer.

On a strong foundation

Some parents may object: after all, children may not understand the words of the canonical prayer, and then they will pray automatically.

− In this case, you can resort to a comprehensive study. Let short prayers be present in your child’s life. “Lord, have mercy on my loved ones and relatives!” - the baby will pray and list his mom, dad, brother, sister. But along with prayer from the heart, there must also be canonical prayer, which will cement our spiritual endeavors so that they are stronger, deeper - this canonicity gives this in itself.

Prayer needs to be learned everywhere

If the parents did not pray from the moment the child was conceived - for example, they later joined the church - how and where is it better for the child to learn prayer? In the temple? Or at home? Or maybe it’s better to leave it to professionals - Sunday school teachers?

- And at home, and in church, and in Sunday school! This is the complex that will provide complete knowledge of the Orthodox faith and prayer. You cannot get by with just one prayer - at home or in church. All these points complement each other and are not mutually exclusive. By praying at home with parents (in the morning, in the evening, before and after meals, before starting and after finishing a task), by resorting to congregational prayer in church, by praying in Sunday school, the child learns to fill his entire life with prayer. All this will give its skills, its fruits.

How to pray at school?

Father Igor, what advice do you, as an experienced parent, give to parents of Orthodox schoolchildren - how to guide their children in a secular school? Let’s say a child is used to praying before and after meals, but in a public canteen he is embarrassed to do this.

− It is necessary to take into account the society in which the child studies: how the class and teachers feel about such things. If it is possible, if the class teacher is a church member, and there is a contingent of children in the class who go to church, why not?

And if there are no like-minded people, the prayer must be performed unambiguously, but it must be done silently.

An important rule for a little man

With what intensity should you increase your children's prayer rule?

- In general, the children's rule is the simplest. In my opinion, it does not need to be increased, the main thing is that it be systematic and regular.

What should make it up? What prayers?

− As a rule, these should be short prayers. A large amount of children's spiritual literature is now available, in particular, children's prayer books, which you can rely on. There are also children's Bibles, Gospels, epistles of the apostles, lives of saints, adapted for different ages - all this can be studied with children. The main thing is that this should be systematic and regular, which will ensure spiritual discipline, without which the forward movement of any person - small or adult - is impossible.

You also need to look at the child - how much he is able to withstand prayer. One can stand, another needs to sit, one can stand it for five minutes and his attention wanders, another at the same age can stand ten to fifteen minutes of prayer. It is important to take into account the mental characteristics and character of the child. In no case should there be extremes.

You can’t overdo it, but being too loyal is also not helpful. You need to find a middle ground that will not be difficult for the child and will be interesting. It is important that the child work hard, because in spiritual work it is necessary to force oneself. We should try to teach our children this, we need to explain this to them. It is very important to tell why and who needs prayer, that for our good and salvation it is important to pray to God - the One who created us (in this case, you can turn to the children's Bible or the Law of God).

Not by coercion, but by instruction

That is, if a child is not interested and does not want to pray, we should not insist, but try to bring him to an understanding of the need for prayer?

“Yes, we need to create conditions for him where he will participate in prayer for at least five minutes.” Conversations, stories, reading children's spiritual literature, which is now not only accessible, but also very well composed and colorfully designed - all these are means. Just looking at the pictures is an opportunity to attract attention. And once you are interested in the picture, you can already tell something necessary for the child. For example, now there are many books with children's poems that teach the basics of Orthodoxy, and parents can not “give lectures”, but read rhyming lines, which children like much more.

So in this regard, as in any area of pedagogy, there must be an element of play, a creative approach. For example, a child does not want to read “Our Father.” We read an Orthodox book with him, look at the pictures in it, talk about this prayer - isn’t it better to do this than to force the child to pray through tears and conflicts? In this matter, it is important not to overdo it, not to go too far, not to break it, because then it will be so difficult to even out all these distortions!

In general, it would be great if parents were creative in all areas of their children’s lives: doing homework, working skills. Conversation, explanation, play is always better than coercion.

Looking for the golden mean

There are parents who are very fond of a long prayer rule and actively involve their children in this. In your opinion, where is the line of reasonableness in this matter?

- As already mentioned, the task of parents is to find a middle ground that will be optimal and most joyful for the child. We adults pray according to our spiritual capabilities. And they are children, they are just starting on this path, our task is to strengthen them, but not break them. There is no need to place our labors on children's shoulders - that would be too much, an extreme, and have nothing in common with the golden mean. As they grow, you can try to attract them to your prayer rule. But again: you need to look at abilities. You cannot give a poor student the task of an excellent student, and vice versa. These issues must be approached very wisely, in no way equating children with each other.

Perhaps it will be convenient for some rules to be read only to the child, and for others to be taken on together.

Prayer and Teaching

What should you teach a child besides prayer? I mean the spiritual soil, the base that a little Christian should have.

− God's law for children. Without knowledge of God's Law it is impossible to spiritually develop a child. It is necessary to study the history of Orthodoxy, of our Church. It is important to read the Bible for children, the Gospel for children. I think this reading will be useful for parents too.

Interviewed by Ekaterina Shcherbakova

prichod.ru

Texts of prayers for children

The child can read the following prayers for himself:

Our Father

Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be thy name; Come to your kingdom; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Give us today our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors; And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen

Morning prayers

Get up from sleep before any other action, remain with reverence, presenting yourself before God, Who sees everything, and, crossing yourself, say:

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

So wait a little until all your senses fall into silence and your thoughts leave all earthly things, then read the following prayers, slowly and with sincere attention:

Publican's Prayer

(Gospel of Luke, chapter 18, verse 13)

God, have mercy on me, a sinner. (Arch)

Initial prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, prayers for Your Most Pure Mother and all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen.
Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of truth, Whoever is everywhere and fulfills everything, Treasure of goodness and life for the Giver, he came and dwelt in us, and he cleansed us from everything cruel and saved us, I am blessed.

Trisagion

Holy God, Holy Strong, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Read three times, with the sign of the cross and a bow on the belt.)
Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Prayer to the Most Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; Lord, cleanse our sins; Lord, forgive our iniquities; Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities in Your name.
Lord have mercy. (Three times).
Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Symbol of faith

I believe in one God, Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of everything visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things came into being.

For the sake of us, people, and for our salvation, who came down from heaven, and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man.

He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried.

And rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures.

And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.

And He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, and His Kingdom will have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, who proceeds from the Father, together with the Father and the Son, equally worshiped and glorified, who spoke through the prophets.

Into one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

I acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come.

Amen.

Prayer 3, St. Macarius the Great

Having risen from sleep, I hasten to You, Lord Lover of Mankind, and I take up deeds pleasing to You, according to Your mercy, and I pray to You:

Help me at all times, in every matter, and deliver me from all evil vicissitudes in this world and from the devil’s assistance, and save me, and lead me into Your eternal Kingdom.

For You are my Creator and Provider and Giver of all good.

And in You is all my hope, and I send up glory to You, now, and always, and forever and ever.

Amen.